The life-course origins of mastery among older people

In this article, we aim to identify the sources of mastery--the understanding that individuals hold about their ability to control the circumstances of their lives. The sample for our inquiry was drawn from the Medicare beneficiary files of people 65 and older living in Washington, DC, and two adjoining Maryland counties. We find that past circumstances, particularly those reflecting status attainment and early exposure to intractable hardships, converge with stressors experienced in late life to influence elders' level of mastery. The impact of past conditions, however, does not necessarily directly affect the current mastery of older people. Instead, the effect of prior experiences on current mastery is mediated by what we refer to as life-course mastery: one's belief that one has directed and managed the trajectories that connect one's past to the present. Our analyses show that life-course mastery largely serves as the mediating channel through which individuals connect their past to their present.     

Operationalizing environmental indicators for physical activity in older adults

This qualitative study describes environmental supports and barriers to physical activity in an older adult sample drawn from low- and high-walkable neighborhoods. Thirty-seven individuals age 55 and over were recruited and answered open-ended survey questions, with a subsample invited back to partake in a semistructured interview. Content analysis identified categories and themes linking perceptions of neighborhood-environment characteristics to activity. Emerging categories and themes did not differ across neighborhood walkability, so results are presented for both groups combined. Infrastructure was the most common category identified to encourage activity, specifically, well-maintained sidewalks, bike paths or lanes, and traffic control. Other categories of land use, landscape, and aesthetics were reported. Poorly maintained or missing sidewalks, crosswalks, bike paths or lanes, and traffic safety were categories that discouraged activity. In conclusion, the information obtained is helpful in solidifying which environmental characteristics are important to measure as they relate to activity behavior in an older adult population.     

Development and evaluation of the physical activity questionnaire for elderly Japanese: the Nakanojo study

The Physical Activity Questionnaire for Elderly Japanese (PAQ-EJ) is a self-administered physical activity questionnaire for elderly Japanese; the authors report here on its repeatability and direct and indirect validity. Reliability was assessed by repeat administration after 1 month. Direct validation was based on accelerometer data collected every 4 s for 1 month in 147 individuals age 65-85 years. Indirect validation against a 10-item Barthel index (activities of daily living [ADL]) was completed in 3,084 individuals age 65-99 years. The test-retest coefficient was high (r = .64-.71). Total and subtotal scores for lower (transportation, housework, and labor) and higher intensity activities (exercise/sports) were significantly correlated with step counts and durations of physical activity <3 and >or=3 METs (r = .41, .28, .53), respectively. Controlling for age and ADL, scores for transportation, exercise/sports, and labor were greater in men, but women performed more housework. Sex- and ADL- or age-adjusted PAQ-EJ scores were significantly lower in older and dependent people. PAQ-EJ repeatability and validity seem comparable to those of instruments used in Western epidemiological studies.     

Maintenance of skilled performance with age: a descriptive examination of professional golfers

Demographic studies indicate a remarkable aging trend in North America. An accurate profile of the decline in physical and cognitive capabilities over time is essential to our understanding of the aging process. This study examined the maintenance of skilled performance across the careers of 96 professional golfers. Data were collected on scoring average, driving distance, driving accuracy, greens in regulation, putts per round, and number of competitive rounds played using online data archives. Analyses indicate that performance in this activity can be maintained to a greater extent than in activities relying on biologically constrained abilities. Although the generalizability of these results to "normal" aging populations is not known, they suggest that acquired skills can be maintained to a large extent in the face of advancing age.     

Advances in the surgical management of prolapse

Prolapse is an extremely common condition, for which 11% of women will have a surgical procedure at some point in their lives. The recurrence rate after most of the traditional surgical procedures is high and upto 29% of women who have had surgery for prolapse will require a further operation. In order to improve the surgical outcome, there is currently much interest in the use of grafts to augment traditional repairs and new procedures have been developed using specifically developed grafts. These have been combined with minimally invasive surgical techniques in an attempt to reduce surgical morbidity. These procedures may improve the outcome of surgery for prolapse. However, there is currently a lack of long-term data from randomized trials to demonstrate their effectiveness and safety.     

The Collegiate Learning Assessment: facts and fantasies

The Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA) is a computer administered, open-ended (as opposed to multiple-choice) test of analytic reasoning, critical thinking, problem solving, and written communication skills. Because the CLA has been endorsed by several national higher education commissions, it has come under intense scrutiny by faculty members, college administrators, testing experts, legislators, and others. This article describes the CLA's measures and what they do and do not assess, how dependably they measure what they claim to measure, and how CLA scores differ from those on other direct and indirect measures of college student learning. For instance, analyses are conducted at the school rather than the student level and results are adjusted for input to assess whether the progress students are making at their school is better or worse than what would be expected given the progress of "similarly situated" students (in terms of incoming ability) at other colleges.     

Factors associated with 'feeling suicidal': the role of sexual identity

This paper examines factors associated with feeling suicidal in a large sample of urban men in Sydney and Melbourne, aged 18-50, including heterosexual, gay and bisexual men, HIV antibody positive and HIV antibody negative. As in previous research, sexuality (being homosexual or bisexual) was found to be a major predictor of suicidality. The research went some way towards explaining the close relationship between feeling suicidal and sexual orientation. Sexuality interacts with feeling bad in that, once men feel moderately bad/depressed, they are more likely to feel suicidal if they are homosexual or bisexual than if they are heterosexual. In addition, the research found that experience of verbal abuse and physical assault (harassment) increased feeling suicidal for both heterosexual and gay/bisexual men, not just for homosexual men as suggested by previous research, and that social isolation in the form of living alone is a further risk factor. Seeking counseling help and taking sexual risks were also independently associated with feeling suicidal. These actions may result from feeling suicidal rather than the reverse, and their association with feeling suicidal warrants further research. Many of the 46 independent variables examined in the research, including HIV antibody status and closeness to the HIV/ AIDS epidemic, were related to feeling suicidal only through their association with being gay/bisexual. Celibacy and general risk taking were not related to feeling suicidal in this study.